[UK Independend 20 Nov 2013] Tony Blair’s government gave America permission to store and analyse the email, mobile phone and internet records of potentially millions of innocent Britons. At the same time US security officials drew up plans to spy on British citizens unilaterally, without the knowledge of the UK government.
The revelations have emerged in leaked documents obtained by the National Security Agency (NSA) whistleblower Edward Snowden.
Moving down a bit, key paragraphs follow:
It shows the NSA was still barred from making any UK citizen a target of surveillance that would look at the content of their communications without getting a warrant.
However, they were “authorised to unmask UK contact identifiers resulting from incidental collection”, “utilise the UK contact identifiers in Sigint development contact chaining analysis” and “retain unminimised UK contact identifiers incidentally collected under this authority within content and metadata stores”.
#3
The IC has to balance privacy with detecting terror and other networks. It's an uneasy balance. And it only works if we understand that and they act with integrity.
#4
The IC has to balance privacy with detecting terror and other networks.
Better to keep the terrorists outta here in the first place.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
04/08/2017 11:55 Comments ||
Top||
#5
More and more we find ourselves either being inconvenienced or having our rights violated in the name of fighting terrorism while our government lets people into the country who have a high probability of being terrorists. It makes no sense.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
04/08/2017 11:57 Comments ||
Top||
#6
Better to keep the terrorists outta here in the first place.
#7
Abu, concur, it makes no sense. I think the abyssal reason it occurs, senselessly, is that neither feds nor think tanks nor academics nor lawyers have seen and developed a strategic counter-narrative to Salafi or Shi'a Jihad. They have gone kinetic on Jihadis. But they leave untouched Jihad itself.
I think there is such a counter-narrative: essentially, scrape away Asharite Islam (since 18th Century, called Salafi Jihad) and poison its root to reveal the Mutazilite Islam substrate that is civil and productive. The counter-narrative for that is what in classical philosophy and theology is called Reason, which is also a common meeting ground of Christianity, Hinduism and Mutazilite Islam. India is part of this business as much as Five Eyes and Russia are.
#8
It's already been used for political ends, that didn't take long.
Well...as long as it's legal I would assume Trump admin will be using it now.
Thanks Dems, this will be handy.
Dung Beetle warning. [New York] Donald Trump’s surprise decision to launch missile strikes against Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s forces in response to Tuesday’s horrific chemical attack represented a reversal from Trump’s noninterventionist campaign message. It’s also the most recent sign of the declining power of his chief strategist Stephen Bannon. Two sources close to Bannon told me the former Breitbart executive chairman argued against the strike -- not because of its questionable constitutionality, but on the grounds that it doesn’t advance Trump’s America First doctrine. "Steve doesn’t think we belong there," one Bannon ally told me. Bannon’s position lost out to those inside the White House, including Jared Kushner, who argued Trump needed to punish the Assad regime.
The debate over Syria is the latest fault line that has opened up in the once close Bannon-Kushner relationship. "During the campaign and transition, they had an almost uncle-nephew thing going," one Bannon associate said. But in recent weeks, Kushner and Bannon have clashed over the direction of Trump’s agenda. While the press has covered it as a personality feud, Bannon allies say the rift is about policy differences. "The press is calling it fighting, we call it debating," Bannon told an associate, according to a source. On a board in his West Wing office, Bannon keeps a list of promises Trump made to populist voters. Kushner, whose portfolio has ballooned in recent weeks, seems much less interested in keeping those promises.
The power struggle is growing more personal. While Bannon declined to comment for this piece, Bannon allies inside and outside the White House say he is "disappointed" and blames Kushner, in part, for some of the damaging leaks about him. If before there were philosophical differences in the White House, now there are clearly defined camps: On one side are "the nationalists" Bannon, Stephen Miller, and Julia Hahn; and on the other are "the Democrats" Kushner, Ivanka Trump, and Gary Cohn. Bannon is growing increasingly frustrated with Cohn, sources say, and is particularly unhappy to be receiving much of the blame for the health-care debacle while Cohn, who was deeply involved in the effort, emerged unscathed. Health care was "100 percent Gary," one person close to Bannon said. During a recent White House meeting, when the subject of Cohn came up, Bannon reportedly told associates "I love a gunfight."
Despite his waning influence, Bannon recently told an ally that he won’t quit. If Trump wants him out, he’ll have to fire him.
#1
Well gosh golly gee, almost word for word from Glenn Beck yesterday. Hate that time slot - had to change the radio to modern country music for something better. So bad his assistant had to correct him a number of times, then went off on some strange parable.
#3
"It’s also the most recent sign of the declining power of his chief strategist Stephen Bannon."
I don't like the smell of Kremlinology. Between trying to guess who's in and who's out, and the all-important matter of which talking head has moved to which network, I'm not sure there's much room for news.
Posted by: james ||
04/08/2017 23:03 Comments ||
Top||
Interesting theory by Mercer, only slightly unhinged. It might explain 'the children' comment. The referenced David Frum 'Atlantic' piece is worthy of the rubbish bin however.
#1
"If you establish a democracy, you must in due time reap the fruits of a democracy. You will in due season have great impatience of public burdens, combined in due season with great increase of public expenditure. You will in due season have wars entered into from passion and not from reason;" - Benjamin Disraeli
#2
We've been in 'that war' since Obama. So what is new? Other than backing with action (besides those ineffective 'deniable' acts the media buried for Obama).
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Millions have been shocked by the sight of children dying as a result of the recent Khan Sheikhoun massacre in Idlib. We should be aware that unfortunately this might not be the last chemical attack.
Such attacks have taken place several times in the past. We wake up to the news of horrific massacres and then life goes back to normal. Then another massacre happens. The photo of Aylan Kurdi, the Syrian boy who drowned in the Mediterranean Sea as he was fleeing the war in Syria with his family, shook the world but nothing happened.
Later on, there was the picture of Syrian child Omran Daqneesh wiping blood off his face; nothing happened thereafter. Unfortunately, nothing will happen now as well. It is morally and ethically shameful to live through these developments and watch how these crimes against humanity are being committed before the eyes of the entire world.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2017 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11126 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
#1
Assad is blessed by the barbarity, inhumanity, maniacal Islamic fanaticism, and world-wide caliphate demands of his opponents. They are actually generally worse than him. Chemical weapons, beheadings, burning alive, rape and disembowlement, it's all Islam
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/08/2017 6:08 Comments ||
Top||
[DAWN] SYRIA, in the throes of a destructive civil war since 2011, may be on the precipice of even greater peril. In the early hours of Friday, American Tomahawk missiles rained down on an air base in Homs province, killing at least six individuals. While the US has been targeting hard-line turbans in Syria for some time -- without the permission of the regime in Damascus -- this is being touted as the first direct American military action taking aim at the Syrian state. Although the B.O. regime had long supported the ’moderate’ rebels battling Bashir al-Assad’s government, Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... ’s predecessor resisted targeting the regime in Damascus through direct military action. Now, under the constantly evolving Trump doctrine, the Assad administration appears to be fair game. The trigger for the American assault was the chemical attack earlier this week in Idlib, which Washington and its allies blamed on Damascus.
The reactions to the missile attack have been in line with current geopolitical divisions. America’s allies have hailed the military intervention. These include the European states, The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... , many Arab countries as well as Israel. On the other hand, Russia, Mr Assad’s key military backer, has come down hard on the US for launching the strike. Iran, another major supporter of the Damascus government, has also condemned the US military action.
The Idlib chemical attack, in which over 50 people are believed to have perished, was an abominable crime, as indeed are all attacks which involve such ghastly weapons. It is also true that Mr Assad’s forces have employed brutal methods in crushing dissent, while the rebels -- moderate or otherwise -- have replied in similarly brutal fashion. However, if you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning... it is necessary to note here, and without getting bogged down in conspiracy theories, that where the chemical attack is concerned there is need for caution. If Mr Assad’s forces were involved in the Idlib attack, they must face justice. However, if you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning... in the past there have also been strong suspicions that holy warrior rebels have carried out chemical attacks; American journalist Seymour Hersh wrote that the 2013 Ghouta chemical attack may have been carried out by the Nusra Front. But regardless of who is responsible for such chemical attacks, it should be the UN’s responsibility to investigate and bring to justice the perpetrators. The US cannot be allowed to unilaterally play the international policeman; its record shows that previous military interventions have only exacerbated the situation. The removal of Saddam Hussein, under the pretext of ’weapons of mass destruction’, springs to mind. Syria is a mess, with hundreds of thousands dead and millions displaced -- and the US should not be igniting a wider conflagration through the use of its military muscle. The world community, under UN auspices, must act to prevent any future use of chemical weapons, as well as a further expansion of the Syrian conflict through unilateral actions.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2017 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11134 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
#1
The world community,under UN auspices, must act...
[DAWN] President Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... 's sudden decision to order Arclight airstrikes against the Syrian government was an overnight evolution for a president who long warned against deeper American involvement in one of the world's most stubbornly violent conflicts.
As he soberly announced the assault Thursday night, Trump argued that the move was still within the framework of his "America First" foreign policy agenda.
The United States, he said, has a "vital national security interest" in stopping the proliferation of the kinds of chemical weapons the Syrian government used against its citizens earlier this week.
Yet Trump's actions left no doubt that at least in this instance his view of America's role in the world has been altered.
Trump is hardly the first president to reconsider his views after assuming the responsibility of controlling the world's most powerful military.
But with a major shift coming just 77 days into his presidency, his may be one of the fastest transformations in recent memory.
After spending years warning US leaders that Syria was a dangerous quagmire, Trump is said to have been moved by the gripping images of young Syrian children's listless bodies that were beamed across the world following the chemical attack.
He mourned the "beautiful babies" were among the dozens killed by the deadly gases and accused Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Trampler of Homs... of having "choked" his own citizens.
His sentiment the United States' "responsibility to protect" echoed those often used by some Trump's ardent detractors.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2017 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11132 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
#1
In short, it'll still take some time, but DC will have him fully trained.
#2
"In short, it'll still take some time, but DC will have him fully trained."
I think you meant "In short, it'll still take some time, but Trump will have DC fully trained."
This is Trump we're talking about.
Unlike past presidents who were military leaders, political hacks, actors, community organizers and the like, Trump is a bona-fide businessman, possibly the first president with actual business experience and not board room or CEO (or any CxO) experience. As such, Trump is getting things done!
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
